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Moe’s Southwest Grill opens 600th unit

Salt Lake City is home to Moe’s Southwest Grill’s 600th unit. The milestone reflects the momentum the brand has built by signing several high-profile multi-unit franchise agreements nationwide, just 15 years after opening its first location in Atlanta.

May 19, 2015

Salt Lake City is home to Moe’s Southwest Grill’s 600th unit. The milestone reflects the momentum the brand has built by signing several high-profile multi-unit franchise agreements nationwide, just 15 years after opening its first location in Atlanta, said Paul Damico, Group President for FOCUS Brands, the brand’s franchising company.

“The opening of our 600th restaurant is an achievement that was reached largely thanks to our dedicated franchisees and loyal guests across the country,” he said. “As we continue to expand our footprint in coming years, our focus will remain on offering quality food and unique dining experiences.”

The Salt Lake City restaurant marks the first Moe’s in the state and is part of the company’s plans to further develop its presence in the western part of the U.S. Moe’s hopes to open 70 new restaurants this year and continue an aggressive expansion, with new Moe’s debuting in Chicago, Cleveland, and the state of Iowa, Damico said. Expansion over the coming year will be driven by several multi-unit franchise deals inked, including: 

• A 20-unit deal for West Chicago, signed by Willie Torchia, franchise owner of 16 TGI Fridays restaurants.
• A 12-unit deal for the Baltimore DMA, signed by Hardy Gill, a franchise owner/partner in 30 Denny’s restaurants.
• A 12-unit deal for all of Maine and North Boston, signed by Danny Costa, Mike Costa and Mark Pesce, franchise owners of more than 40 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants.
• And a 12-unit deal for most of Iowa, signed by Scott Davis, Matt Middendorp, Mike Middendorp and Mike Flanagan, franchise owners of nine Pizza Ranch restaurants.

Moe’s currently operates in 37 states including D.C., and in international markets such as Guatemala and Jamaica. The company is seeking experienced, multi-unit franchise owners to develop San Francisco, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Phoenix and Detroit, Damico said.

In 2014, Moe’s opened 63 new restaurants — more than one restaurant per week — and signed over 150 new franchise deals. The company had 5.8 percent positive same-store sales and $570 million system-wide sales, Damico said.